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Henrietta budget calls for tax cut

The town of Henrietta budget that is slated to be voted on Wednesday calls for a 6.25 percent reduction in the property tax rate.

Using rounded numbers, Henrietta taxpayers would pay $1.16 per $1,000 assessed value in the proposed 2015 budget compared with the $1.23 they paid this year.

The $18.3 million budget includes a spending increase of more than $300,000.

Town finance director Barbara Chirdo, in her presentation to the Town Board, said the average Henrietta taxpayer, with a house assessed at $144,000, would pay $166.59 in town taxes — almost $10 less than this year.

Supervisor Jack Moore said that by conducting a more realistic review of revenues and expenses, the town could lower the tax rate.

“We looked at the three-year average for expenses and revenues and we used that as a base,” said Moore. who was elected supervisor last November and previously served as a Town Board member.

A state Comptroller’s Office report earlier this year criticized the town for building up an almost $11 million surplus by underestimating revenue and overestimating expenses over a period of years.

The surplus had grown to $12.8 million, but the town recently refunded about $1 million after an audit conducted by the state Comptroller’s Office found the surplus to be excessive. About 10,000 homeowners each received a check of $100.

Chirdo predicted that sales tax revenue for the town in 2015 would be about $130,000 more than in 2014 — a 4.6 percent increase.

Building permits in 2015 are projected to bring in $55,000 more in revenue — a 6 percent increase.

An agreement between the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency and the Wilmorite Corp., which owns The Marketplace mall, took property at the mall off the tax rolls.

Instead, the property would be subject to a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement, which calls for specified payments to the town, the county and the Rush-Henrietta School District over 20 years.

Under the PILOT agreement, the town was slated to receive $256,212 this year and $407,228 in 2015.

A breakdown of town expenditures in the proposed budget shows that about half of the tax dollars go for payroll and benefits, 36 percent for contractual commitments, and 13 percent for equipment and other capital outlays.

Henrietta has a full-time workforce of about 85 along with about 200 part-time employees, according to Moore.